American Crystallographic Association NEWSLETTER Number 1 Spring 2003 Time-Resolved Diffraction Northern Kentucky, July 26-31 Table of Contents / President's Column Spring 2003 Table of Contents President's Column Presidentʼs Column .................................................................. 1 The year 2003 promises to be Guest Editorial ......................................................................2-3 an exciting and challenging year for ACA, and I look ACA Election Results .............................................................. 3 forward to my term as Letter to the Editor................................................................... 4 President. One of the nicest New ACA Vice President and Secretary...............................4-5 benefits of this position is the Awards...................................................................................... 5 opportunity for me to become News and Announcements....................................................8-9 better acquainted with many Nominations for Fankuchen and Trueblood Awards............... 9 of ACAʼs members, as we 2003 ACA Officers, Appointments ........................................ 10 work together to continue to 2003 Roster of ACA Committee & SIG Officers..............12-15 strengthen the activities of our association. As I have Contributors to this Issue ....................................................... 15 been organizing awards committees and our next nominating Index to Advertisers ............................................................... 15 committee, I have been greatly gratified by the willingness USNCCr Roster for 2003..................................................17-18 of our busy members to take on still further work in behalf ACA Corporate Members ...................................................... 18 of ACA; it is this huge volunteer contribution of interest, On the Cover.......................................................................... 19 expertise, and time that makes the ACA run, and makes my Communications Committee Update..................................... 22 association with it such a rewarding experience. ACA Summer Courses ........................................................... 23 In this vein, I express my gratitude and that of the ACA and its Geneva Travel Notes.............................................................. 24 Council to Bill Stallings and Lee Brammer as they leave their Crystallography Web Watch..............................................27-29 posts of Past President and Secretary, respectively. Though Meeting Reports................................................................29-31 we know their dedicated service to ACA will continue, their Book Reviews / New Books .............................................33-37 thoughtful insights at Council discussions will be missed. At the same time, it is my pleasure to welcome newly elected Future Meetings ...............................................................38-39 officers Frances Jurnak (as Vice President) and Lisa Keefe Calendar of Meetings and Schools ........................................ 40 (as Secretary) to their posts on ACA Council. I look forward Positions Available................................................................. 40 to working with them, and I know you will support them as they contribute their time and efforts to ACA. Contributions to the Newsletter may be sent to either of the Editors: While the financial position of ACA is by no means critical, Connie Chidester...................................... Judith L. Flippen-Anderson things are tighter everywhere, as we deal with the same trying 2115 Glenwood Dr.............................................. 3521 Launcelot Way economic challenges that we face in our personal, business, Kalamazoo, MI 49008 ...................................... Annandale, VA 22003 academic, and government environments. ACA is fortunate tel. 269-342-1600 ..................................................tel. 703-346-2441 to have, both on Council and throughout the association, a fax 716-852-4846...................................................fax 716-852-4846 large reservoir of expertise and commitment in this arena, [email protected]..................... [email protected] and I am confident that ACA will meet its goals of careful stewardship and wise use of our financial resources while we Articles by e-mail or on diskettes are especially welcome. Deadlines for newsletter contributions are: February 1 (Spring), May 1 (Summer), remain true to our core activities and our mission. August 1 (Fall) and November 1 (Winter). Matters pertaining to adver- ACA awards up for selection this year are the Fankuchen tisements, membership inquiries, or use of the ACA mailing list should Award (one of ACAʼs oldest) and the Trueblood Award be addressed to: (to be chosen for the first time). You can read elsewhere in Marcia J. Evans, Administrative Manager this newsletter the call for nominations for those awards American Crystallographic Association honoring two giants of crystallography (both of whom served c/o Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute as President of our organization). Please note the early deadline 73 High Street, Buffalo, NY 14203-0906 for nominations; this will enable the awards committees to phone: 716-856-9600, ext. 321; FAX: 716-852-4846 make their selections in time for announcement at the 2003 email: [email protected] ACA meeting, and so planning can begin for associated symposia for the 2004 meeting in Chicago. The ACA Council ACA HOME PAGE http://www.hwi.buffalo.edu/ACA/ is currently reviewing the nominations for the first Margaret ACA Newsletter (ISSN 1958-9945) Number 1, 2003. Published four times per C. Etter Early Career Award, which will recognize achieve- year in the spring, summer, fall and winter for the membership of the American ment and future potential among those at an early stage in Crystallographic Association, P.O. Box 96, Ellicott Station, Buffalo, NY 14205- their independent career. 0096. Membership in the ACA includes a non-deductible charge of $1.75 from membership dues to be applied to a subscription to the ACA Newsletter. Periodicals You have read in the past several newsletters of the postage paid at Buffalo, New York. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to strengthening coordination and contact between ACA (as ACA, c/o 73 High St., Buffalo, NY, 14203. the IUCr regional affiliate for the western hemisphere) and 1 President's Column / Guest Editorial Spring 2003 Spring 2003 our Latin American crystallographic colleagues. I invite your attention to the report in this newsletter (p.30) by Iris Torriani (who is also the IUCr representative to the ACA) on the Inter-American Workshop on the Use of Synchrotron Radiation held in Campinas, Brazil in December 2002, in which several of our U.S. colleagues participated. On behalf of Council, I reiterate Past President Charlie Carterʼs invitation calling attention to the new ACA fund to help provide partial support for attendance at ACA meetings by Latin American crystallographers (as well as to the other worthwhile funds that ACA members have been so generous in establishing and supporting.) One big thing we have on our collective horizon is the annual ACA meeting, to be held this July 26-31 in Northern Kentucky/ Cincinnati. Jeanette Krause Bauerʼs program committee has organized a tightly interlocking schedule of sessions, symposia, and workshops that constitute the scientific centerpiece of our gathering. Both the breadth and the focus of the scientific content of our meetings get better and better, as the ACA SIGs take on a large responsibility for planning and organizing sessions and symposia. And the local committee, headed by Bobby Barnett, has arranged for great facilities and a firm infrastructure for our many activities, both scientific and social, (including, of course, the annual banquet, and even a riverboat dinner cruise at the end of the meeting). We appreciate the innumerable hours of preparation that Bobby, Jeanette, and their committees have already devoted and will continue to commit through what promises to be one of our finest ACA meetings. And in very encouraging news, early indications are that the Exhibit Show at the Northern Kentucky/Cincinnati meeting will be both larger and more varied than ever before. This development, along with the report from the Buffalo office that, despite the current general economic and business climate, ACA now has its largest number ever of corporate members, is further indication of the key position of crystallographic endeavors in todayʼs science and technology. We remain grateful to our industrial and corporate colleagues for this continued support of ACA and of crystallography. I hope to see you in Northern Kentucky in July! Ray Davis Guest Editorial: Former ACA President Penelope Codding ensure the ethical conduct of research. There are many other forms of misconduct or misdoing that are subtle and not governed by the rules, or in the words of the opening metaphor, not policed by traffic cops. Are we preparing our students for the situations that call for moral judgements - for making decisions that consider conflicting needs or rights, and that affect the welfare of others? The discovery of the structure of DNA was a signal achievement in science and is rightly celebrated. It is also right to remind ourselves of the dark side of this discovery, that the authors of that important paper